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Bowen Belt Buckle Knife

I was wonder what this knife is worth? I have it for nearly 20 years and never wore it. I only found a few pics of these on the net, but never this deer design.

Mazz (husband)

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by John McCain on August 24, 2015 at 13:41

I took the liberty of posting your pics for you-

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by John McCain on August 24, 2015 at 14:22

Mazz- A little info on your knife & belt--Bowen Knife Co.was started in 1973 in Blackshear, Georgia. The story goes that entertainer Billy Joel wanted a knife he could carry on stage & contacted Blackie Collins. Supposedly Blackie designed the knife but because of the leather making involved, sold the design to Bowen. No proof if Billy Joel ever wore one of these. The original Bowen Co. eventually went out of business, and were purchased in 2002-2003 and moved to Magnolia, AR where they are still in business under the same name.Your knife is a Series III knife called the Deer II pattern.These came out in the late 70's and were limited to 500 pieces. 440C steel and a model 209 single edge blade.Knife and belt were sold separately, but both 100% USA made.Pricing on these is a little tough, as they seem to fluctuate wildly around the net. In addition, I have never seen your Deer II pattern offered for sale, only seeing it in their original catalog listing and yours. Average price on these limited edition knives runs around $150-200, although I have seen them offered as high as $450. I have seen the original belts like yours, themselves sell for $150 .One disclaimer- The belts offered by the present Bowen Co. still fit the original versions like yours at about a third of the price.I actually believe your knife could sell in the mid $200's, as I have seen plain (no etch/engraving) and not limited edition sell for $150 on these early Bowens-Lastly, here is a pic of part of the Bowen catalog showing your knife.

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on August 24, 2015 at 16:59

John,

Thanks for posting the pics and doing the research. You are AWESOME!

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Doug Webber on August 27, 2015 at 3:00

Back in my younger and less intelligent days, I was given a ride to the local lockup by the county's finest. I had enough sense to give up my Bowen upon arrival in the hopes of getting it back when released. When they saw what their search had missed they took it to the copy machine and ran off enough copies to hand out to everyone. I did get it back with what I would now describe as an "unprintable" warning.